About Me

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The older I get, the more cynical I get. It is not a fact I am proud of, but it is a fact. I disbelieve just about everything the establishment and the media tell us. I am convinced that we are manipulated into being the submissive, law-abiding robots that we have become. It grieves me greatly.

Sunday 20 September 2015

Radio days






Last week Ipsos Mori asked me if I would keep a radio diary for a week.  I agreed readily as I love listening to the radio. 

Even agreeing to do the survey made me realise how much less I now listen to the radio.  I had bought a DAB radio, but it has proved to be a complete waste of money because it completely failed to find most radio stations.  The reception on my stereo is also poor, so I have ended up listening to radio only via the telly or in the car.  I used to listen to morning radio a lot via my phone when I had a Sony Ericsson phone, but have found reception and sound not as good on newer android phones.  There is also the issue of needing headphones to have the radio on, and I seem to lose them or break all headphone sets with alacrity. 

It was tempting to immediately go back to my old habits for the purposes of the survey, but I didn't.  Being naturally paranoid, I am worried that such a survey is being carried out by the BBC or the government as part of a move to justify cutting out many of its radio stations, so I was tempted to skew the survey by spending the week listening to as many BBC stations as possible.  However it was easier and more honest to just do what I would normally do and record that.  It has made me realise how few stations I now listen to and how I can go entire days without listening to the radio.  

I used to listen to the radio every morning.  I cannot cope with breakfast television, so much noise and primary colour that early in the day makes me feel a bit light-headed.  Breakfast television is like coffee, everyone else does it, I just don't understand why; give me radio and a cup of tea.  When I gave up on the useless DAB radio, I listened on my phone via wi-fi, or a radio app but the sound was poor and searching around every morning for a pair of headphones to plug in for the app to work drove me mad.  Yes a tidy, organised person would know exactly where the headphones were, but then I would not be me would I.  

Eventually I just gave up.  After a week of filling in the radio survey, however, I realised how much I was missing out on.  Since I was a small child, the radio had been part of my daily routine and yet at some point in the past few years, it has become a weekend luxury.

Before my brother and I got our own radios, mum was in charge of our radio listening, so we had Terry Wogan and Jimmy Young on in the day and Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart at weekends.  No Sunday was complete without the radio on whilst mum roasted a joint of meat and boiled the life, vitamins and taste out of a pan of brussell sprouts.  

When I had a transistor radio of my own, I listened to Radio 1 every evening.  No teenager today could even begin to understand the importance of the new singles chart, or the annoyance of trying to record your favourite songs on a clunky cassette player without the DJ talking over the record.  A friend used to sneak a transistor into school so we could listen to the new charts on a Tuesday lunchtime.  We actually thought sneaking a transistor radio in was a small act of rebellion.  How innocent we were!  I thought I was so trendy when I started listening to Capital Radio in the mornings.  When I was in the armed forces, we listened to BFBS and the truly world class BBC World Service.  I can remember being in the Falklands in 1991 and feeling quite emotional at the World Service announcement that Terry Waite had been released after nearly five years of being held hostage in Beirut.   

In the months before I left the RAF, I went to the Ministry of Defence for a couple of short detachments with our trade desk.  They seemed to quite like having me around and were very excited about being allowed an extra biscuit with their afternoon tea - there's not a lot to laugh about at the MoD.  We had a small radio in the office, permanently tuned to BBC Radio 4.  One day when all four of the officers were out at meetings, I very daringly decided to retune it to Capital.  When the three Wing Commanders returned, there were raised eyebrows and a few amused comments, but they let the dial stay where it was.  The Group Captain, however, nearly had a coronary when he walked through the main door and the needle was back to Radio 4 before he'd cross the room to his office.  I am not even sure he knew before that moment that there were alternative radio stations.  

I took my preference for BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4 over Radio 1 as yet another sign of middle age.  I have long abandoned Radio 1 completely except for very occasionally listening to Annie Nightingale on a weekend.  I sleep much better on weekends, so my insomnia and I unfortunately miss out on the legendary Ms Nightingale.  When I first started commuting to Brighton for work in 2008, I listened to Radio 4 in the mornings and Chris Evans Drive Time on BBC Radio 2 or the Radio 4 comedy shows on the way home.  If ever you are stuck in an evening traffic jam, I cannot recommend them highly enough.  It completely distracts you from the teeth-clenching agony that is the M25 during the rush hour.  When Chris Evans took over the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2010, I tuned in just to listen to the fabulous Moira Stuart read the news.  I had greatly missed the gravitas of such newsreaders. 

If I am working from home or just having a lazy weekend I listen to the radio all day, via digital television.  I hop around throughout the day, I can't be doing with the Archers or Jeremy Vine, but I still enjoy the Steve Wright show and the plays and books for the week on Radio 4.  If I am driving anywhere I I have the radio on all the time in the car.  For long journeys I also have BBC Radio 4's Clare in the Community on CDs, for when radio is not accessible or just starts to give me a headache.  Even when driving in France, I listen to the radio and try to improve my poor French by repeating everything the presenters say.  

I wish we had more female radio presenters in the day, particularly mornings and early evenings. I think Liza Tarbuck should have a daily slot, rather than just Saturday evenings.  I once wrote to Heart radio and complained that rather than promoting or training a young female radio presenter, they gifted a job to an ex 'Spice Girl'.  They didn't reply, unsurprisingly.  As much as I enjoyed listening to Radcliffe and Maconie in the evenings, I am pleased I was too lazy to search for their new slot on Radio 6 because otherwise I wouldn't have found out how good Jo Whiley was.  

Yesterday, I finally solved the problem of searching around every morning for headphones; I bought a small AM/FM radio for the bedroom.  It doesn't have a clock (I can't stand digital clocks in bedrooms, I hate the weird glow they cast, even if it is dimmed), nor an alarm.  You change channels and the volume by turning the dials.  Not only did I start listening to it when I woke up early this morning, but I have been carrying it round the house with me.  I can now have radio in the kitchen, the bathroom and bedroom.  To avoid replacing the morning headphone search with a hunt for the radio, I can see at least one more AM/FM radio being an essential.  Right now, with perfect timing, Terry Wogan is on the radio, playing Dolly Parton's 'Here you come again'.  My waist and dark-brown hair may be an unobtainable and long relinquished part of my past, but I won't be giving up my radio again. 



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